Flair offers free flights to Canadian prof who flies to work due to housing prices

Canadian budget carrier Flair Airlines has offered a year’s supply of free roundtrip flights to an Edmonton professor who commutes by air to work in Vancouver.

Nima Nassirian shared his story with Daily Hive this week, where he detailed his schedule of teaching master of business administration (MBA) students in Vancouver and spending three days a week at his Edmonton home with his wife and two children.

He spends approximately $6,000 per month on his Edmonton mortgage, rent on a Vancouver apartment for the weekdays, and weekly roundtrip flights between the two cities. All that is about half the price of monthly mortgage payments on an equivalent house in Vancouver — which Nassirian estimates would cost about $2.5 million.

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After sharing his unconventional arrangement, which he thinks speaks to the inflated nature of housing in Vancouver as well as his love for his career, Flair reached out trying to lighten his load.

Nassirian tells Daily Hive Flair has offered free roundtrip flights for the remainder of the year — 26 journeys between Vancouver and Edmonton. Also, Nassirian and Flair are working on a partnership to help his MBA students at University Canada West explore the country. The details aren’t ironed out yet, but Nassirian is looking forward to it.

The offer comes in exchange for Nassirian being a brand advocate for the airline, which he says he’s only too happy to do because the relatively low-cost flights enable him to keep his family in the city they love while pursuing a can’t-pass-up career opportunity.

“We’re grateful to Nima for championing Flair’s affordable travel experience,” Ashley Fields, vice president of marketing and communications at Flair Airlines, said in a statement. “His advocacy reflects the convenience and accessibility Flair offers, empowering all to live more, and to connect more with family and students.”

Nima Nassirian/Submitted

Nassirian moved to Edmonton two years ago to be closer to his wife’s family and afford the type of home they wanted to raise their kids in. For less than $600,000, they purchased a multi-bedroom home in a quiet residential area close to the city, and bid farewell to the Greater Toronto Area.

The family knows they couldn’t afford the same lifestyle if they moved to Vancouver. Nassirian’s son plays ice hockey, his daughter attends daycare, and they still save enough to take yearly vacations. Plus, as an avid motorcyclist, he doesn’t want to leave behind the multiple racetracks or communities he’s found in Edmonton.

Nima Nassirian/Submitted

“It’s a beautiful life,” he told Daily Hive. “I’d have to give that up for me and my kids — hence why I don’t want to live in Vancouver.”

Nassirian isn’t the only one who commutes between BC and Alberta. Earlier this month, University of British Columbia student Tim Chen made headlines because he also flies to class in Vancouver and returns to his parents’ Calgary home to sleep.

As housing costs in Vancouver balloon further out of reach for many, it appears more affordable housing in a neighbouring province and relatively cheap airline tickets are the solution some commuters are choosing.